55 Days at Peking (Action 1963) Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner & David Niven

A film of very good quality!


Language............: English
Subtitles.............: N/A
Runtime.............: 162 min.
Resolution..........: 1280 x 576
Sample...............: Included in folder


Storyline:

55 Days in Peking is a dramatization of the siege of the foreign legations' compounds in Peking (now Beijing) during the Boxer Rebellion which took place in 1900 China.

Fed up with foreign encroachment, the Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi uses the Boxer secret societies to attack foreigners within China, leading to the siege and subsequent direct intervention by foreign expeditionary forces which were dispatched to put down the rebellion. The film concentrates on the defense of the legations from the point of view of the foreign powers, and the title refers to the length of the defense by the colonial powers of the legations district of Peking.

The foreign embassies in Peking are held in a grip of terror as the Boxers set about killing Christians in an anti-Christian nationalistic fever. Inside the besieged compound, the British ambassador forges the beleaguered ambassadors into a defensive formation, with United States Marine Corps Major Matt Lewis heading a contingent of multinational soldiers and Marines defending it. Included in the group of high-level dignitaries is the sultry Russian Baroness Natalie Ivanoff, who begins a romantic liaison with Lewis. As the group conserves food and water while trying to save hungry children, it awaits reinforcements, but Empress Tzu Hsi is plotting with the Boxers to break the siege at the compound with the aid of Chinese troops.